Democracy without people
Remember: when the GOP starts spouting off about voter fraud, it's simply their way of saying that too many people are taking part in the democratic process. See, too many people participating makes it much more difficult for the moneyed interests to pull the strings, which leaves the poor legislative marionettes twisting powerlessly in the wind.
The Florida House approved a series of bills Tuesday intended to clamp down on citizen initiatives, setting off a heated debate over the need to curb election fraud while preserving voters' rights to amend the state Constitution.
The bills include restrictions on signature gathering and three proposed constitutional amendments to limit the subjects of those initiatives and increase the votes needed to approve them.
The four bills now await Senate action.
Supporters say the measures will curb fraud and preserve the integrity of the state Constitution.
"This bill doesn't make it tougher for citizens to collect signatures. What this bill does is make it tougher to commit fraud," said House sponsor Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples.
Opponents say the measures ensure that only monied interests can change the Constitution, leaving true grass roots groups out in the cold.
"I am drawing a line in the sand. You either stand with the people of Florida or against the people of Florida," said Rep. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa.
The most controversial change would add restrictions to the petitioning process, including criminal penalties for failing to wear an ID badge while collecting signatures, prohibiting most high school students from volunteering for a constitutional amendment campaign by mandating that signature gatherers be at least 18, and restricting signature gathering to Florida residents. Paying people for each signature also would result in a criminal charge.
The petition regulations don't need voter approval. The three proposed amendments would go before voters in November 2006.
The Herald has more.
Three constitutional amendment proposals approved by the House, which must now find favor in the Senate, ask voters to impose tough new restrictions on the scope of the constitutional questions allowed on the ballot, and the margin of the vote for approval of new amendments. Had the proposals been in effect in the past 15 years, not a single controversial amendment would have passed.
If the House measures are approved by the full Legislature, voters would be asked in November 2006 to curtail their own rights to amend the state Constitution.
''The citizens of this state want to do something to stop what is going on,'' said Rep. David Simmons, an Altamonte Springs Republican who sponsored the House bill. ``We are not stopping the citizens from their right under the Constitution. What we are doing is trying to protect them from being abused by a system that has run amok.''
BUSINESS CONCERNS
Opponents counter that the proposals are a knee-jerk reaction from a nervous Legislature that is heavily influenced by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which is backing the changes.
Business owners across the state have complained about amendments that voters have approved that affect businesses, from bans on smoking in bars and restaurants to raising the minimum wage by $1 an hour.
......Democrats argued forcefully against the measures, saying that without an alternative that gives voters the ability to circumvent a nonresponsive Legislature by approving initiatives that change state law, they are taking away voters' rights.
''What we're seeing today is the death of direct democracy,'' said Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Democrat. ``It's a horrible, horrible bill.''
Both the House and Senate attempted to get at the initiative process -- which depends heavily on people who gather voter signatures to get a proposed amendment on the ballot -- another way: by making it a third-degree felony for anyone to pay or be paid ''directly or indirectly'' per signature collected. State law requires that an estimated 600,000 valid signatures be verified from registered voters to get a proposed amendment on Florida's election ballot.
House leaders said their ''Petition Fraud and Voter Protection Act'' is necessary to stop perceived fraud in Florida's petition-gathering process. The House approved the measure on a final vote of 96-22.
''Clearly we have evidence where signatures have been forged,'' said Rep. Dudley Goodlette, a Naples Republican and sponsor of the House bill.
A similar bill was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday despite complaints by consumer groups that lawmakers can offer little proof that the problem is widespread.
`LIKE A CRIMINAL'
Barbara Sterling, a volunteer with the League of Women Voters, complained that the bills ''essentially crush the petition process.'' She said volunteers like her will ''feel like a criminal'' just by exercising their constitutional right.
Both the House and Senate bills also require any petition gathering organization that pays people to gather signatures to also pay each supervisor of elections for the cost of validating the signatures.
Those who circulate petitions must also wear a badge announcing that they are a ''paid petition circulator.'' Violations are third-degree felonies.
Rep. Tim Ryan, who along with former state Education Commissioner Betty Castor is pushing a citizens' petition to take redistricting out of the hands of lawmakers, said the bill would invalidate at least four petition drives already in progress, including one by former Senate President John McKay to create a citizens committee to review all sales tax exemptions.
''This has changed the rules,'' he said. ``It's step after step, hurdle after hurdle in an effort to prevent the people from being able to petition their government for change.''
Of course, signatures on petitions are already closely scrutinized. There will always be duplicates and signatures by non-voters. They are already weeded out before the signatures are counted. None of these bills are aimed at curtailing fraud. It's all about removing the people from the process.
As Rep. Dan Gelber puts it, "Democracy without people might be easier, but it wouldn't be democracy."